Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1887-12-15
The Naked Logic.

In bnS supreme couTG OplTlGn IN TN
Kansas cases Mr.. Justice Harlan ha
succeeded in giving a formidable sum
mary of the logic of Repuhlicanisn
which is also the logic of Prohibition
He goes beyond the constitution to til,
abstract principles of the philosophy o
! government and society as he see!
! them, and here it is not only q Iigh
but duty to meet him. We do no
believe that the supreme court has evel
given an abler Or more dangerous opin
ion than this of Mr.. Justice Harlan's.
TO appreciate it rightly we must put
out of consideration the question of the
relations of the state to the federal Un-
ion, and, rid of this perplexity, go with
/ him to the all-important question at
issue.
A close analysis of the opinion will
bring into prominence these, its basic
ideas:
First-That right and wrong are not
selfevitlent and fixed. but merely rela-
tive.
Second-That right can injure right.
Thiri-That right and wrong being
not self-evident, but relative, there
must be some supreme arbiter to de-
clare year by year what is right and
wrong.
Fourth-That this supreme arbiter is
the moral sense of the majority.
This is the unqualified logic of the
opinion. We do not propose to deal
here with the qualifications in eTtensO,
because these qualifications have not
been allowed to affect the conclusion
which, if the propositions are accepted,
is irresistible. Justice Harlan draws it
in declaring that the citizen has no in
bereut right to make solely for his own
use particular kind of beverage used
inyalf ayes OF the world when the moral
sense of the ma ajority ceases to approve
1t.
This is evident if right is merely rel
alive, and it follows necessarily not on
not inherent" but that there can be
no inherent right. All rights under
this view are held subject to the moral
sense of the majority and dependent
on it.
This we believe to be as fair an un-
qualified statement of the logic of this
opinion as can be made. Those who
read the opinion will find that Justice
Harlan. who is close reasoner, is en-
barrassed by bis own logic to such an
extent that in dealing with mooted
rights he uses "prejudicially affected"
as synonomous with 'injure," and cou-
pies rights and interests" as governed
by the "Sicutere tuo" maxim-a max
i'm which our English and American
theory of the relation Of right to right
has always interpreted to mean: So use
your own right as not to transgress the
right of another; leaving right free to
damage interest; leaving interests free
to contend against and damage each
other, aud drawing the line only when
right is overstepped to the injury-to
the wrong-of right.
Justice Harlan's qualifica tions-the
dress in which he clothes his naked
logic-must be considered also, how
ever. He does not recognize inherent
right or fixed and determinate right
when he reasons beyond the scope of
constitution, he acknowledges as tenn
porarily determined such rights as are
therein specifically set forth. In con-
sidering rights alleged to exist as inher-
ent beyond these. such as the right to
make and drink the particular bever-
age-wine. ale, cider, Or whatever it is
in questionable is governed by his
logic, and denying that they exist in
this instance by necessary parallel
ism, denies that they exist at all. If
court attempt to uphold right not
temporarily determined by the MAORI
ty it "usurps legislative functions.
Right and wrong being relative and
this is matter of
course. If right is expediency, chang
ing with the times. we must be gov
erned altogether by the times, and
Justice Harlan's statistical argument
is q valid one, however irrelevant as to
constitutional principles or constitu-
mir foa actS h ;oI n
by statistics accessible to every one,n
and on this bases his final conclusion
that the right of the citizen of Kansas,
or of Missouri, to make hard cider or
sour wine solely for his own use "does
not inhere in citizenship" for the obvl-
Gus reason that II every citizen made
hard cider and sour wine and got drunk
Oh it, the "statistics accessible to eve
ryone" would show as IN ucn drunken
ness as ever.
To some this may appear a reductio
od absurdum Of Justice Harlan's logic,
but Justice Harlan's logic is not SO cas-
lily disposed of. 1t is the logic of a
party which numbers among its mem-
bers men of the highest intelligence
which polls almost a moiety of the
votes of the United States. 1t is the
logic of RepubIicanism which perme-
ateS the poHcy Vi tHat party eVeTy-
where. 1t is also the logic of Prohibit
ton, which is only one phase of Repub-
and thus, being most consist
ent in Inconsistency, Justice Harlan's 3 |
opinion is, to our mind, the strongest
dncumentever promulgated
in the United States.
Against this logic Is the opposing
logic of Democracy, which demands |
Individual iresponsibiiit that individ-
ual liberty may exist. Against the |
of Republicanisin Democ-
racy sets these as vital truths:
First-That right is not relative but